What's Cookin'? - Aidell's Meatballs

We found a new product that we are very happy with - Aidell's chicken meatballs. 

They are all natural - no fillers or preservatives. They also have a line of chicken sausage as well.

They had samples at the grocery store. We bought one pack on a whim.

I surprised myself with this purchase. Usually I cannot think outside the box. You see,  I'm a traditional meatball person - you know, serve them with spaghetti. I'm also very picky when it  comes to meatballs - only my mom's will do with pasta!

But these had such unusual flavors that I knew they weren't going to be the usual meatball with pasta. With that in mind, we made our first purchase: Teriyaki flavored meatballs.

Like other refrigerated or frozen meatballs, these just have to be heated for a short time before they are ready. This helps make for a quick weeknight meal!

So... what to do with teriyaki flavored meatballs.... Stirfry! 

A quick toss with fresh pineapple chunks, onion chunks and a bag of those mini peppers (the red, yellow and orange ones that are very popular right now). Just serve it over rice. Delicious! (We used our favorite brown rice/quinoa blend).

Next time I might add snow peas and water chestnuts for extra crunch. Easy and fast!

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After that meal we knew wanted some more! They happened to be sampling the meatballs at Costco and we ended up buying a double pack, so we could try other flavors. In the combo pack was one pack of caramelized onion flavor and one pack of mango/jalapeño.

Hmmm... What to do, what to do....

We used the caramelized onion meatballs in this meatball sub casserole. 

I left directions for my boys to make this one night last year and they did. It was delicious, and easy enough for them to make. It gave them a chance to cook dinner for once! 

It was time that we had it again, and I knew that this flavor of meatballs would be a good substitute for the usual Italian-flavored meatballs.

1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1-inch thick slices
8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/4 t. pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1-lb. pkg. frozen meatballs, thawed
28-oz. jar pasta sauce
1 c. water

Arrange bread slices in a single layer in an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan; set aside. 

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and seasonings; spread over bread slices. 

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese; set aside. 

Gently mix together meatballs, spaghetti sauce and water; 

Spoon over cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. (I added fresh parsley too)

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4.

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I still had the mango/jalapeño meatballs left in the freezer. I searched the Aidell's website and Pinterest and came up empty-handed. It was so new (this flavor) that no one had posted anything yet. Time to be creative...

Mango Meatball Wraps

This flavor of meatball is really good but very spicy!

I cooked them in the frying pan and broke them up, so it resembled  taco meat. I served it on a tortilla with a salsa made of: fresh pineapple, frozen mango chunks (thawed), a little chopped cilantro and red onion. 

The finishing touch was the spicy chipotle barbecue sauce I had made to go with the sliders we had a few nights before. You can find that recipe here:

http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-cookin-spicin-it-up.html?m=1

There was some "heat" in this dish but it was very tasty. I served it alongside of some yellow rice. The combination of fruit salsa and yellow rice with the meat took away some of the heat. 

Yum! 

Keeper!